Reviews 127 The glosses and commentary added to legal tracts over time are of great intrinsic interest. They have long been under-appreciated by students of Old Irish law, whose primary interest was in the ancient and archaic elements of the oldest texts. It is a welcome sign that they receive the attention that they deserve here. But perhaps the difference between the original text and the later commentary could have been emphasized a little more. On the whole, however, A raven’s battle-cry is a carefully researched and well-written book, a welcome addition to the list of modern editions and translations of Old Irish laws. Eska has made available, for the first time, a text that will be of interest to linguists and historians for years to come. She has also illuminated many of the opaque passages and the legal culture that they document. Darren McGettigan, Richard ii and the Irish kings. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2016. ISBN: 978–1–84682–602–3. 232 pages. $29.95 (paper). Gregory J. Darling Hostos Community College & Fordham University In Richard ii and the Irish kings, Darren McGettigan has illumined one aspect of the tragedy that encompasses the life and death of Richard ii: his two expeditions to Ireland in 1394–1395 and in 1399. The second expedition was disastrous for the ill-fated king, for, in his absence from England, his cousin Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile to organize his forces for the eventual deposition of Richard ii. In his book, McGettigan details the violent context of the struggle between Irish kings and English lords, while shedding light on three talented Irish kings with whom Richard ii had to contend: Art MacMurchadha Caomhánach of Leinster (1375–1416/1417); and Neill Mór and Neill Óg Ó Néill of Tyrone, high kings of Ulster (1364–1397 and 1397–1403, respectively). McGettigan notes in his Introduction that ‘these three men were successful, ambitious and capable kings, who achieved a great deal of real substance’ (15). McGettigan indicates the various sources that provide information about the expedition of Richard ii to Ireland: a chronicle by Froissart (who interviewed the squire Henry Cristall, a captive in Ireland during his youth), a travel account by Viscount Ramon de Perillos of Aragon, an account by Jean Creton—who wrote ‘La prinse et mort du roy Richart’, Irish primary sources (including bardic poems and annals), English annals composed in Latin, 39 instruments and 36 letters in Latin (associated Richard ii’s first expedition to Ireland), seven letters in French, the Calendar of Irish Chancery Letters (composed ca. 1244–1504 and given the acronym CIRCLE), and primary-source documents in English archives. McGettigan sets Gregory J. Darling [gregorydarling@msn.com] obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of English at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2003. His dissertation was based on a medieval Irish manuscript. He currently teaches in New York City at Hostos Community College and Monroe College. 128 North American journal of Celtic studies forth his discussion of Richard ii’s Irish expedition in six chapters. Included in the book are illustrations of documents, artifacts, fortifications, and people connected with the expeditions, as well as an extensive bibliography, index, and maps. In Chapter 1, ‘Richard ii and his western island’, McGettigan describes for the reader the context of Richard ii’s expedition by providing a description of Richard ii himself as king and by presenting the political situation of Ireland on the eve of the expedition. Richard ii, capable of vindictiveness and compassion during his time as king, ‘was the first reigning English monarch to visit the lordship of Ireland since King John in 1210’ (34). Richard ii, according to McGettigan, was inclined toward an ‘imperial concept in the organization of his territory’ (34). McGettigan observes that ‘Richard’s interest in Ireland may have been about the logical development of his pre-existing involvement with some of the western areas of his English kingdom, such as the Chester region and Wales’ (34). About the political situation in Ireland in 1394, at the outset of Richard ii’s first expedition, McGettigan states that there were two Irelands: the ‘lordship of Ireland’ and Gaelic Ireland, ‘a...